I have read the thread from 2012 - it got heated to say the least but I need some advice.

I was intending to slot a new LRP.30 spec 2 into my Savage XSS but have now decided to sell it without running it and go with another option, basically a PICCO OR NOVA.

It seems impossible to locate / buy a Picco (apart from AB mods) let alone buy parts for it, the company and engine appear to be discontinued? The Nova on the other hand seems like it's still well supported - can still be bought new from AMain and plenty of parts still available. This forum talked about the Nova having 'problems with the front bearing' and 'Not worth the money over the Picco'. Also happy to hear any of you tell me I'm wasting my time and should stick with the LRP - but I got turned off it by what a few members have said in other posts.

I have reached out to Robin and ERCM and ABMods, but it's tough getting a response when your 1 guy in Australia, so I am asking you guys what I should do. I just what to buy the best quality that will give me the most trouble free motoring with great performance and stability in tune.

Also keen to understand does a modded mill reduce its lifespan? I have raced and modified full size turbo engines (rotary and 4-6 cylinder open class) vehicles in Australia and where we push the limits in terms of boost or RPM, despite Using higher caliber parts, like crank, forged pistons etc - it usually is the case.

Need some input from you savage guns out there - hope to hear from you fellers

I have Ercm Piccos, CRE (the nitro shop) Nova, and had a AB modded STS.30. My favorite is the Nova from Neal. He is Nitrojedi here.

The Lrp is a budget *censored* engine. Great value but short of Picco or Nova quality. The Nova is tops as far as quality. The picco is close but not quite. The Nova also pulls harder in the higher rpm range.

All three mills are available in stock or modded form. You would have to look for the boost version of the picco.

Therr are four people to my knowlege that have run both Ercm Picco.28s and the CRE Nova .28. Myself, Pipedup, sunshine, and your Austrailian champ SavageSam. All members here. Feel free to drop any of them a pm. I dont know how close you are to Sam. Maybe you could see his run in person.

Watching a 2wd drive speed run truck in LLs videos isnt what i would use to base my decision on buying a 4wd bash truck.

And his claim of fastest engine is not supported. Now i guess he wants to give all the credit of his record truck to robin and none to the truck design. That baffels me.

Sunshine was 2mph slower in a bone stock savage 4wd weighing a lot more with stock trash electronics and so on. Not to mention LLs speed engine is not the same one you will get from Robin. The nova in steves video is the same one you will receive.

Ll could prolly hit 80 if hed try a Nova, but his and Robins blind loyalty to Picco will never let that happen.

To measure power is to throw gearing at it. If a motor can push 1:1 gearing without being phased it means it has a lot of power. To do a top speed run you need both torque and rpm. Without this you cannot go very fast. What does this mean for a basher? It means you get a jaw dropping setup. A normal bash setup and I was running faster than my flux with a very similar setup. Since when has a nitro savage been stronger than a flux lol. Its funny you bring up Steves not so stock truck. He was to afraid to run a factory fuel tank because neal told him it was harming the motor lol. So I ran it with an 8 gallon picco and was only .2mph slower than his freshly broke in nova. My newest picco doesn't have all the fancy crank work Jimmy thinks it does. It looks just like all the rest he does. At the end of the day an ERCM picco can out pull a nova or LRP. It can out run a flux on 6s, and it can do this while still pulling wheelies. This is true power and should I mention it does all this with a super short header meant for the upper rpm. I let my videos do most of the talking because I have them and to I actually run my trucks and enjoy sharing them for all to see.

Btw Jimmy, if Robin wasn't good at modding motors I would be second fastest. So yes the credit does go to his skills. My truck setup plays a small part of the total picture.

Hahaha ... LL impressive, sounds sweet with a beautiful idle. Checked out your other vid / rig with the badlands tires. Beast. Robin has been tough to talk to though and his website doesn't allow engine orders, so it's not that easy to buy an ERCM Picco... But I guess that's the way it is when you have that sort of rep... Always in demand.

Time to check out sunshines vid... I'll update the post once I make the final order.

And at the end of the day both my LRP 30 and my Novarossi will outperform the ERCM Picco/pipe combo... this is not even a debate..half a dozen now own both our engines and each and every one says my engine is the strongest performer...... I will post the dyno graph of the ERCM pipe and you will see why it pulls gearing, but also see how terrible the powerband is...it makes great bottom end, decent mid and has zero top end,.,terrible IMO compared to my setups which have a big broad powerband from idle all the way to top end......In terms of area under the curve my engine will murder the ERCM setups..